{"id":11656,"date":"2013-06-20T12:14:25","date_gmt":"2013-06-20T16:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=11656"},"modified":"2013-07-14T19:36:51","modified_gmt":"2013-07-14T23:36:51","slug":"something-to-prove-at-the-nyphil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=11656","title":{"rendered":"Something to Prove at the NYPhil"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Sedgwick Clark<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lionel Bringuier, an exuberant 26-year-old Frenchman with an apparent need to prove something, conducted the Philharmonic last Thursday (6\/13) in an entertaining program of conservative 20th-century music at Avery Fisher Hall. The cartoonish side of Dukas\u2019s The Sorcerer\u2019s Apprentice <\/em>was appropriately raucous, but the achingly slow, rubato-laden treatment of the Assez lent <\/em>intro would have been better suited to the Tristan <\/em>Prelude. Prokofiev\u2019s Second Violin Concerto, with Leonidas Kavakos the exemplary soloist, received a fine accompaniment. Kod\u00e1ly\u2019s Dances of Gal\u00e1nta <\/em>seemed more stop and go than usual; the tempo changes are in the score, to be sure, but the older Hungarian conductors on record had more convincing ebb and flow in their blood. Stravinsky\u2019s 1919 Firebird <\/em>Suite was a crowd pleaser, as always.<\/p>\n

Still, I wonder if the Philharmonic players liked their young conductor? The violins were accurate but coarse in tone throughout. Perhaps his just-ending, six-year tenure as resident conductor of the LAPhil in the velvety acoustic of Disney Hall didn\u2019t prepare him for Fisher Hall\u2019s uningratiating fortissimos. Moreover, the orchestra\u2019s virtuoso French horn player Philip Myers, reverting to his misbehaving pre-Masur days, was at least four times too loud in his f espr. <\/em>solo on the second page of the Kod\u00e1ly, and parts of the Firebird <\/em>sounded like a horn concerto. None of the musicians applauded until Bringuier asked the woodwinds to stand for final bows. \u00a0<\/p>\n

A colleague who heard the Friday afternoon concert of the identical program reported that the objectionable details above appeared to have been toned down overnight,\u00a0but that\u00a0the Dukas was deficient in humor and the Kod\u00e1ly in gaiety.<\/p>\n

Happy Birthday, James Levine<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having celebrated James Levine\u2019s 40th year at the Met last year with 21 DVD and 32 CD box sets of his hand-picked performances, the company is\u00a0lighting candles for\u00a0his 70th birthday this weekend with 14 of his favorite performances on Met Opera Radio, Sirius XM Channel 74.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday, June 22, 2013<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

6 a.m. ET. Un Ballo in Maschera <\/em><\/strong>(Verdi) from January 26, 1991. Levine conducts Aprile Millo (Amelia), Luciano Pavarotti (Riccardo), Leo Nucci (Renato), Florence Quivar (Ulrica), Harolyn Blackwell (Oscar).<\/p>\n

9 a.m. ET. Salome <\/em><\/strong>(Richard Strauss) from January 5, 1974. Levine conducts Grace Bumbry (Salome), Ragnar Ulfung (Herod), Regina Resnik (Herodias), Lawrence Shadur (Jochanaan), William Lewis (Narraboth).<\/p>\n

12 p.m. ET. The Ghosts of Versailles<\/em><\/strong> (Corigliano) from January 4, 1992. Levine conducts Teresa Stratas (Marie Antoinette), H\u00e5kan Hageg\u00e5rd (Beaumarchais), Gino Quilico (Figaro), Marilyn Horne (Samira), Graham Clark (B\u00e9gearss), Ren\u00e9e Fleming (Rosina).<\/p>\n

3 p.m. ET. Fidelio <\/em><\/strong>(Beethoven) from January 6, 2001. Levine conducts Karita Mattila (Leonore), Ben Heppner (Florestan), Sergei Leiferkus (Don Pizarro), Ren\u00e9 Pape (Rocco), Hei-Kyung Hong (Marzelline), Matthew Polenzani (Jaquino).<\/p>\n

6 p.m. ET. Falstaff <\/em><\/strong>(Verdi) from April 5, 1975. Levine conducts Cornell MacNeil (Sir John Falstaff), Evelyn Lear (Alice Ford), Thomas Stewart (Ford), Fedora Barbieri (Dame Quickly), Benita Valente (Nannetta), Douglas Ahlstedt (Fenton).<\/p>\n

9 p.m. ET. Die Zauberfl\u00f6te <\/em><\/strong>(Mozart) from February 9, 1991. Levine conducts Kathleen Battle (Pamina), Francisco Araiza (Tamino), Luciana Serra (Queen of the Night), Kurt Moll (Sarastro), Manfred Hemm (Papageno), Barbara Kilduff (Papagena).<\/p>\n

12 a.m. ET. Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande <\/em><\/strong>(Debussy) from January 22, 1983. Levine conducts Dale Duesing (Pell\u00e9as), Jeannette Pilou (M\u00e9lisande), Jos\u00e9 Van Dam (Golaud), Jerome Hines (Arkel), Jocelyne Taillon (Genevi\u00e8ve).<\/p>\n

\u00a0Sunday, June 23, 2013<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>6 a.m. ET. La Forza del Destino <\/em><\/strong>(Verdi) from March 12, 1977. Levine conducts Leontyne Price (Leonora), Pl\u00e1cido Domingo (Don Alvaro), Cornell MacNeil (Don Carlo), Martti Talvela (Padre Guardiano), Rosalind Elias (Preziosilla), Renato Capecchi (Fra Melitone).<\/p>\n

9 a.m. ET. Carmen <\/em><\/strong>(Bizet) from March 21, 1987. Levine conducts Agnes Baltsa (Carmen), Jos\u00e9 Carreras (Don Jos\u00e9), Ileana Cortrubas (Mica\u00ebla), Samuel Ramey (Escamillo).<\/p>\n

12 p.m. ET. Idomeneo <\/em><\/strong>(Mozart) from December 21, 1991. Levine conducts Ben Heppner (Idomeneo), Dawn Upshaw (Ilia), Susanne Mentzer (Idamante), Carol Vaness (Elettra), Peter Kazaras (Arbace).<\/p>\n

3 p.m. ET. I Vespri Siciliani <\/em><\/strong>(Verdi) from March 9, 1974. Levine conducts Montserrat Caball\u00e9 (Elena), Nicolai Gedda (Arrigo), Sherrill Milnes (Guido di Monforte), Justino D\u00edaz (Giovanni da Procida).<\/p>\n

6 p.m. ET. The Rake\u2019s Progress <\/em><\/strong>(Stravinsky) from January 17, 1998. Levine conducts Jerry Hadley (Tom Rakewell), Dawn Upshaw (Anne Trulove), Samuel Ramey (Nick Shadow), Stephanie Blythe (Baba the Turk).<\/p>\n

9 p.m. ET. The Bartered Bride <\/em><\/strong>(Smetana) from December 2, 1978. Levine conducts Teresa Stratas (Marenka), Nicolai Gedda (Jen\u00edk), Jon Vickers (Vasek), Martti Talvela (Kecal).<\/p>\n

12 a.m. ET. Stiffelio <\/em><\/strong>(Verdi) from March 5, 1994. Levine conducts Pl\u00e1cido Domingo (Stiffelio), Sharon Sweet (Lina), Vladimir Chernov (Stankar), Paul Plishka (Jorg), Peter Riberi (Raffaele).<\/p>\n

Looking Forward<\/strong><\/p>\n

My week\u2019s scheduled concerts (8:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted):<\/p>\n

6\/20 at 7:30. Avery Fisher Hall. New York Philharmonic\/Alan Gilbert; Emanuel Ax, piano. Haydn: Concerto No. 11 in D major. Christopher Rouse: Symphony No. 3. Wagner (arranged by Alan Gilbert, after Erich Leinsdorf) A Ring Journey.<\/em><\/p>\n